Almost Asian, Almost American:
A Look at Beauty & Identity
This is a deeply personal ongoing project. My name is Diana King. I am a Chinese-American photographer currently based in Nashville. I’ve always felt like an outsider; I never fit into the conventional definition of beauty in Asian OR American culture.
I grew up feeling insecure and inadequate in my self-worth and identity as a Chinese-American woman. I knew I looked Asian but I didn’t feel Chinese and didn’t even feel like I looked Chinese. The most Chinese thing I knew to my core is that I love Asian food, took off my shoes inside, and obsessed over anything cute. But I’m also American. I was born and raised in California and I lived the American lifestyle. I was a latchkey kid and American pop culture permeated my upbringing. I didn’t have an Asian name and I didn’t speak Chinese so I never thought otherwise of being American.
Because I didn’t have an Asian name, didn’t speak Chinese, and didn’t fit into the Asian beauty standard, I felt rejected by my own family and The Asian community. When I tried to fit in, whether it was at school or work, especially among a group of non-Asians, they only recognized my Asian-ness and questioned why my name wasn’t more Asian sounding. No matter which side I tried to fit in, Asians and non-Asians questioned me from childhood to adulthood, “What are you???”
When I started this project, I wanted to examine and explore the differences and similarities of Asian-American women’s experiences about beauty and our expectations versus society’s expectations. However, as I started interviewing the first set of women, I realized that this question of “What are you?” is the foundation of many Asian-American women’s experiences and how much their appearance is tied to their identity.
This first series from the project showed me I am not alone. Ten Asian-American women volunteered to be interviewed and photographed bare faced and makeup free. All scars, blemishes, wrinkles have not been taken away. I’m so appreciative of these women and sharing their stories of how they feel, view, and question beauty and their identity. I acknowledge this first session only covers a few of the many Asian identities, and my ultimate goal for this project is photograph 100 women ages 18-45 across the United States to capture the full spectrum of Asian identity. That includes any self-identifying women, femmes, gender nonconforming, queer, and transgender individuals of Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian, and mixed race descent. My hope is that these women’s experiences empowers our community to define our beauty and our identity on our terms.
Lynn Chen
Taiwanese-American, 43
Quyen Ngo
Vietnamese-American, 29
Naomi Ko
Korean-American, 28
Loan Hoang
Vietnamese-American, 31
Maura Milan
Filipino-American, 34
Hillary Benefiel
Mixed Filipino-American, 34
Lan Nguyen
Vietnamese-American, 33
Miriam Chan
Filipinx & Chinese American, 32
Valerie Kan
Chinese-American, 24
Jean Kuan
Taiwanese-American, 32